Cervical Screening NSWCervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers—having a Pap test every two years is currently the best way to prevent it. Find out more about NSW Cervical Screening Program.

Cancer control in NSW: Cancer prevention

Worldwide, at least one in three cancers are associated with lifestyle factors.4 People can reduce their risk of many cancers by not smoking, limiting their alcohol intake, protecting themselves from the sun, and maintaining a healthy diet and weight.

Cancer control involves promoting these messages to the community and supporting people to make lifestyle changes. Improvements are taking place in some areas, but there is still work to be done.

Overall key findings: Cancer prevention

From 2007 to 2016, the NSW adult smoking rate fell by almost 5% to 15.0% of the surveyed population.

From 2010 to 2015, the proportion of women who smoked during pregnancy fell by 2% to 8.9%. The proportion of Aboriginal women who smoked during pregnancy also fell over the same period, but was still high at 45.0% in 2015.

More than 60% of NSW secondary school students continued to prefer a tan in 2014.

In 2016, the proportion of adults consuming enough vegetables daily was only 6.7%, while the proportion of adults consuming enough fruit was 47.3%.

Note: These data were the latest available at the time they were extracted (July 2017). For the most recent population health data, visit HealthStats NSW.

Why are different time periods and dates reported?

Cancer information is collected from many places, so it takes time to review and analyse it. Different pieces of information may be collected over different time periods, or reported at different times. This means that not all of the measures reported here have the same dates.

The information presented is the most recent available for each measure at the time the report was developed.